ILCC Christmas Event Celebrates History of Marriott Hotel Alfa

On the evening of Wednesday 10 December 2025, the Ireland Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (ILCC) hosted its Christmas 2025 event at the Luxembourg Marriott Hotel Alfa in Luxembourg-Gare.

The evening began with the ILCC undertaking its annual general meeting before members and guests gathered for a presentation on the "The Business of International Hotels" from Pierre Dorrell, Sales & Marketing Director at Marriott Hotels Luxembourg.

Pierre Dorrell welcomed those in attendance and began his presentation by positing what constitutes a hotel and spoke of the origins of the word “hotel” from the Latin word Hospitalitas; meaning “the act of receiving guests kindly”. 

He said: “In a hotel we are relying on people to make the experiences come to life. The engagement that we have with guests is almost constant in the time frame that we are actually with those guests.”

He then described how his career ambitions evolved from his days growing up in Folkestone, on the south coast of England, and watching the travellers at the town’s ferry terminal being transported across the English Channel to Calais, France. Being half-French, half-English this created in him what he described as a “fixation”for travelling and living in France.

After studying Business Administration and working for several large companies, it would be a position at the newly opened  Disneyland resort in Paris which would cement his ambitions to work in the hospitality industry. He then moved to Italy before being offered a job at the prestigious Hilton Brussels hotel. This is where, he noted, that he learned the differences in business philosophies which can be applied when running a hotel.

Pierre Dorrell explained how the hotel industry evolved after the rise of the internet, presenting new opportunities for travellers to find hotels in almost any location and compare them, giving rise to a change in how hotels marketed their location and the services they provided. 

He remarked on the impact on of the financial crisis of 2008, which saw an increase in investment in the hotel industry by virtue of its stability and regular income. This led to a change in business philosophy within the industry which focused on asset management and branding to attract customers. He said: “In that window from 2009, hotels became about management companies focusing on different things.”

The next great change came from the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and the worldwide shutdown of tourism, where, at the time he was Regional Director of Marketing in Western Europe for Hilton Worldwide. He said: “In January 2020, hotels across Europe went from an occupancy level of 95% one day to 5% the next day. […] Marriott finished up closing all of its hotels in Europe apart from two. One was the Marriott Chardonnay in Paris which was flying medical supplies and another one was the Marriott Frankfurt.”

This, he noted, was the point at which he briefly left the hotel industry and moved into real estate, moving to Luxembourg to work on flexible workspace solutions. A move which would ultimately lead to him returning to the hospitality industry and taking up his position today as Director of Sales and Marketing of the Hotel Alfa.

Pierre Dorrell then detailed the history of the Hotel Alfa and the importance it played in the Second World War, hosting General George S. Patton during the liberation campaign of 1944 and how he and Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley enjoyed Christmas Dinner at the hotel. Pierre Dorrell mentioned that photos of this historic event were shared with him recently by Helen Patton, granddaughter of General Patton. 

On Tuesday 11 November 2025, Helen Patton celebrated the 140th birthday of General Patton with an event at the Alfa Hotel. Pierre Dorrell noted that during her visit he presented to her a portrait photograph of the General he had kept in his office - a gift which resulted in an emotional response from the General’s granddaughter, who stated that the photo was her grandfather’s favourite of him. So much so that he had the original image altered to feature an additional, fourth star which had been awarded to him after the original photograph had been taken.

This story, Pierre Dorrell noted, was what the Hotel Alfa’s team are trying to do. To “pull through on personalised experiences”. He emphasised that this approach feeds back to his approach to personalised hospitality and the importance of people within the hotel industry; both the guests, regardless of fame or stature, and the staff.

He then highlighted the importance of the hotel’s role during the visit of Winston Churchill in 1946, following the end of the Second World War and how that event was the “embryonic moment”  when the European Coal and Steel Association established its headquarters in Luxembourg and became the foundation for what would ultimately develop into the European Union.

He said: “All of this speaks to the fact that a hotel is not just a place to stay. It is not just four walls. When we talk about the business of hotels, yes, it is about making a profit, but you do not make a profit without creating relationships. And it is about that bond and it is about that service delivery.”

There then followed a brief question and answer session before the event concluded with a networking cocktail with food and refreshments.